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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24771427">Hypocrisy at Its Finest</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverydayGeek/pseuds/EverydayGeek'>EverydayGeek</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Victorious (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode: s02e11 Jade Gets Crushed, F/F, Romance, Slow Burn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:54:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,370</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24771427</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverydayGeek/pseuds/EverydayGeek</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"If only he knew how many times she'd found herself in a similar position, feeling just as helpless as he did, over the same girl."</p><p>or </p><p>The one where Tori tries to help Andre get over his crush on Jade, while trying to get over her own crush...except she fails miserably.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tori Vega/Jade West</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>296</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story is based loosely on episode 2x11 "Jade Gets Crushed".</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tori had never seen Andre look so defeated and helpless. Tori looked at her best friend, who had her favorite couch pillow held tightly to his chest, and released a heavy sigh. If only he knew how many times she'd found herself in a similar position, feeling just as helpless he did, over the same girl. The difference between Andre and Tori, however, was Andre's courage to admit that he'd developed feelings for Jade the moment he became aware of them.</p><p>Tori envied that about him.</p><p>It had been two years of Tori secretly pining for Jade, the girl that hated her guts 75 percent of the time - 70 percent of the time if she needed Tori's help with something - and Tori still didn't have the guts to admit her feelings for the girl out loud. She wasn't ashamed of her feelings for Jade, not at all, but she didn't want to ruin the cordial, yet somewhat playful, dynamic that she and Jade had managed to achieve despite their painfully rocky start.</p><p>Maybe by helping Andre move on from his crush on Jade, she could finally move on as well. Maybe it would be for the best.</p><p>"Tori, are you still with me?" Andre cried out, his face contorted into a grimace and his grip on the pillow slightly tighter than it had been a few seconds prior.</p><p>"Yeah, I'm just shocked," Tori replied. "Jade is an awful she-demon. How can you like someone as nasty as her?" she asked, ignoring the voice in her head calling her a liar and a hypocrite.</p><p>"She-she's just so pretty and talented and HOT!" Andre exclaimed, a helpless whimper following the exclamation. "What am I gonna do, Tori? She's Beck's ex-girlfriend! I can't do that to Beck!"</p><p>Beck. The reason for Tori's own secrecy and guilt. Tori understood Andre's despair well.</p><p>"Then don't do anything!"</p><p>"I can't not do anything!"</p><p>Tori rolled her eyes. "Then what do you want me to do about it?"</p><p>"Help me!"</p><p>And so she vowed that she would try to help her friend. And herself.</p>
<hr/><p>"Look, there she is," Tori pointed out Jade the next morning.</p><p>The topic of their conversation was standing in front of her locker, engrossed in whatever she was reading off her phone.</p><p>"She looks beautiful," Andre whispered in agony.</p><p>Tori eyed the black leather jacket, the baggy purple v-neck worn under it, the tight, black jeans and the black combat boots and felt inclined to agree. The style was just..<em>.so Jade</em>. Jade always looked beautiful. She was Jade. Shaking her head to quickly disperse those thoughts, Tori took a deep breath and regained her focus.</p><p>"Stop that!" Tori exclaimed, slapping him on his arm. "Go talk to her. The more you talk to her, the more you'll realize that she's a vicious gank and the quicker that happens, the better."</p><p>Before Tori had a chance to push Andre in Jade's direction, the girl in question had begun heading their way, her usual scowl absent from her face.</p><p>"Hey, Andre, how's the song coming along?" Jade asked as she approached the pair.</p><p>"Uh, it's - you know, it's… Well, you see-"</p><p>"It's coming along great," Tori answered for him, not-so-subtly elbowing him in the ribs as she did so.</p><p>Jade looked at them in confusion but shrugged it off.</p><p>"So, when can I hear the song?" Jade asked Andre, who looked at her with a dazed, almost constipated expression.</p><p>Tori rolled her eyes and said, slowly and pointedly, "Andre, Jade wants to know when she can hear the song."</p><p>Andre jumped and sputtered out a quiet, "I gotta go!" and hurried away, leaving a helplessly confused Jade and an exasperated Tori in his wake.</p><p>"What's his deal?" Jade questioned, resting her back against the locker next to Tori's and crossing her arms over her chest.</p><p>"He just had <em>way </em>too much caffeine this morning."</p><p>"Okay, and what about you? Who wazzed in your latte?"</p><p>Tori felt herself blush at the inquiry. Leave it to Jade to clock her bad mood from a mile away. The girl could practically smell her unhappiness. Tori wasn't sure if she should feel touched that Jade knew her well enough to gauge her mood, or annoyed that she only ever chose to comment on her mood when it was clearly negative. Tori chose to remain indifferent.</p><p>"I'm fine," she replied, her voice two pitches too high. It was grating, even to her own ears. "I just didn't get much sleep last night."</p><p>"And why is that? Did you finally realize that you're talentless and no one likes you?"</p><p>Tori rolled her eyes and turned to open her locker. While reaching into her locker to grab her math textbook, she said, "You know, you talk to me an awful lot for someone who doesn't like me."</p><p>Jade let out an exaggerated sigh. "We have all the same friends. I talk to you out of association, not because I want to."</p><p>Tori raised an eyebrow at that. "It's only us here right now <em>and </em>you're willingly talking to me. What do you have to say to that?"</p><p>To that, Jade pushed away from the lockers and straightened her back. Without uttering another word, she walked off without sparing Tori another glance.</p><p>Tori watched the girl turn the corner and allowed a small, triumphant smile to grace her lips…</p><p>...until she remembered her predicament and quickly schooled her expression into a neutral one.</p><p>How was she going to help Andre get over Jade if she couldn't?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Andre was in agony and Tori was tired. It had only been seven hours since Andre's 3 AM revelation, but, judging by his dramatics, anyone other than Tori would have assumed he'd been feeling this way about Jade for years. Whenever Jade was within a 12-foot radius, Andre would let out a helpless whimper and bolt in the opposite direction, leaving behind an annoyed Tori and an utterly confused Jade.</p><p>It was lunch time when Jade silently appeared beside Tori, practically slamming her closed salad container on the table, and dropping heavily onto the seat beside her. Tori could feel the waves of anger radiating off her. The way she opened her salad container and angrily unwrapped the plastic fork, viciously stabbing into pieces of sauce-covered lettuce, had Tori wondering who that lettuce was supposed to represent.</p><p>"What did your salad do to wazz you off?" Tori asked in concern, eyes widening at how tightly Jade's mouth closed upon her plastic fork, causing the teeth of the fork to break and mix in with the lettuce. Jade spat out the lettuce and bits of plastic from her mouth back into the container, pushing said container to the middle of the table.</p><p>"Sikowitz gave the lead role of his new play to a girl named Amber. Who the hell is Amber?" Jade demanded to no one in particular.</p><p>Tori answered anyway.</p><p>"Amber Collins? She's in our class."</p><p>Jade glared at Tori. "She doesn't even speak! Why would Sikowitz give the role to someone with zero presence!" Jade yelled.</p><p>"I don't know!" Tori yelled back. "What role did you get?" she asked, this time in a much calmer voice.</p><p>"Sherly, her <em>nanny</em>." Jade spat out. "Am I untalented? How many times am I going to be humiliated? I've lost enough roles to you, but at least you aren't <em>awful</em>, but now I've lost the lead to a nobody? What's the point?"</p><p>"Maybe it's karma," Tori said.</p><p>She just couldn't help herself, could she? And now she had the blade of one Jade's prized pairs of scissors leveled at her neck and a furious glare aimed in her direction.</p><p>Tori should be terrified. She wasn't. She was entranced.</p><p>"Whoa whoa whoa," came Beck's hurried yet, still somehow calm, voice. "Jade, put down the scissors. Whatever Tori said, I'm sure she didn't mean it."</p><p>Jade and Tori stared at each other, unblinking. They had gotten into similar staring matches over the last two years, and Tori challenging Jade was always the cause of it. Maybe this was how Tori's attraction to Jade started – her eyes and the intensity behind them. Why couldn't she have been attracted to someone sweet and non-threatening like Cat?</p><p>"Is Jade trying to stab Tori? One time, my brother stabbed one of our neighbors," came Cat's cheery voice.</p><p><em>Never mind, </em>Tori thought.</p><p>Successfully breaking Jade and Tori out of their staring match, the pair turned to stare at Cat, Jade lowering her scissors from Tori's neck.</p><p>Once Cat had their attention, she giggled and said, "they moved the next day."</p><p>At Cat's random story, the heavy tension was broken, and Cat and Beck joined them at the table. Cat squeezed into the spot between Tori and Jade, and only then did Tori realize how close they had gotten during their dangerous staring match. She also realized how fast her heart was beating. Jade didn't look to be faring any better, seeing as her cheeks were flushed pink and she looked to be catching her breath. It was almost as if Tori had made Jade breathless. Tori didn't have long to ponder on that thought before the conversations at the table moved along.</p><p>"Where's Andre and Robbie?" Cat asked.</p><p>"Robbie is out sick today and Andre is…somewhere," Beck replied, brow furrowed.</p><p>Tori knew exactly where Andre was; he was hiding, probably in the music room or somewhere in the Black Box Theater. He had sent her a text right before the lunch bell rang, telling her that he wouldn't' be able to be near Jade without confessing his very new feelings to her. The boy was on edge and bouncing as if he'd had ten shots of espresso that morning. Of course, everyone had noticed his odd behavior. Andre was one of the cool guys at Hollywood Arts and one of the most chill people in their friend group; the fact that Andre's weirdness was almost on par with Robbie's was cause for concern.</p><p>"What's wrong with Andre, Tori?" asked Cat.</p><p>"I don't know," Tori mumbled, picking up her opened water bottle and taking a long sip from it.</p><p>She pretended not to notice Jade studying her.</p><p>"What did you do to him, Vega? You know something."</p><p>"I don't know what you mean."</p><p>Jade raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I think you do."</p><p>The staring match began again, Tori narrowing her eyes at Jade in annoyance and Jade looking at her with a self-satisfied smirk on her lips.</p><p>"Will you two cool it? Why can't you two just get along?" Beck asked, exasperated.</p><p>"Because I don't like her!" and "She's a gank!" were said at the same time and Beck rolled his eyes. Cat just looked amused.</p><p>Tori and Jade continued glaring at each other until Tori huffed and decided to turn her attention back to her lunch, which lay forgotten before her. Her heart was still beating a mile a minute when she picked up her lukewarm burrito and took a big bite out of it. She did her best to ignore Jade's gaze for the rest of the lunch period, which proved to be difficult.</p><p>Jade's eyes remained on her for the rest of lunch, studying her.</p><hr/><p>"Should I transfer schools?" Andre asked that evening.</p><p>They were in Tori's living room, sitting on the couch and, just like early that morning, Andre had her favorite couch pillow hugged to his chest. The look of agony and despair seemed to have deepened on his face as the day wore on.</p><p>"Man, maybe you really do like Jade."</p><p>The way he was behaving in that moment was the exact same way she had acted when she became aware of her own crush on the girl; she wouldn't tell him that, of course, but she found it fascinating. It was like looking into a pathetic, lovesick mirror.</p><p>"I don't know what to do, Tori. I don't know how to be around her or Beck anymore!"</p><p>"Listen, we will get through this," she said in determination. "I will help you get over her."</p><p>"How?" he asked with a puppy-like whimper.</p><p>"I don't know yet, but when I do, I will help you as best as I can," she assured.</p><p>A chirping sound suddenly came from Andre's phone, alerting the boy to a new text. Tori watched his face contort into further agony as he read the text.</p><p>"It's Jade. She wants to know if we can meet up tomorrow before first period so she can hear the song."</p><p>"Just tell her it isn't finished yet," Tori advised him.</p><p>"I can't tell her that!" Andre whined.</p><p>"You can't keep ignoring her. She'll get suspicious."</p><p>Andre pouted as he held his phone before him, his thumbs hovering over the touchscreen keypad for a few seconds. Tori felt like she was in the movie <em>Click</em>. It was like someone pressed pause on Andre because not only was he not moving, but it looked like he had forgotten how to breathe, too.</p><p>"Give me that!" Tori said, snatching the phone from his grasp. She began reading out the text as she typed. "Sure, sounds good. Meet me in front of the music room at 7?"</p><p>Andre reached to grab for his phone, but Tori quickly moved it out of his reach, pressing send.</p><p>"It's been sent," she told him. The phone buzzed a few seconds later and read 'cool'.</p><p>"<em>Why</em> did you do that?"</p><p>"You have to face her sometime. The more you avoid her, the faster she'll catch on. Plus, I wouldn't put it past Beck to figure it out within the next few days. We're all friends and it'll be weird if you suddenly start avoiding the entire group just because Jade is there."</p><p>Andre breathed out a heavy sigh. "I guess you're right. That's some bulletproof logic right there."</p><p>"Mhm."</p><p>"Just so you know, you're coming with me to meet Jade tomorrow morning."</p><p>Tori forced a smile. "I'd expect nothing less."</p><hr/><p>The next morning, Tori and Andre met up at school and headed to the music room together. As soon as they entered the room, Jade was already there, seated at the piano with her fingers lightly dancing over the keys, her back to the door. The soft and melancholy melody coming from the piano was one Tori had never heard before. It sounded like something Jade might have composed herself.</p><p>Tori looked to Andre, who was standing stock-still at the door, his eyes glued to Jade's back as continued playing her song. He looked completely in awe of her and Tori knew, then, that his attraction was genuine. Maybe getting Andre over Jade would be harder than she thought.</p><p>As the song continued, Tori looked to Jade and saw how at ease she looked. Just from her posture alone, Tori knew she was in her element, just as she was when she was writing a new play or got a new pair of scissors. This was one of the sides of Jade that Tori began falling for, but it was a side the girl had kept hidden quite well. Jade could be a major gank when she wanted to be, but Tori knew it was partially a front and partially a part of her actual personality. Either way, Tori knew that she liked both sides to her.</p><p>Not realizing that Jade had stopped playing and noticed the pair standing at the door, they both jumped when she addressed them.</p><p>"Why are you guys standing there and watching me like two creeps?"</p><p>"You're a creep," Tori lamely replied.</p><p>Jade raised an eyebrow at that comeback. "That was weak, even for you."</p><p>"Well!"</p><p>"So, we going to discuss the song or not?" Jade asked Andre, waiting impatiently for him to sit down to talk.</p><p>"Uh-y-yeah. Yes. Um, let's talk," he stuttered out, slowly making his way further into the room and taking a seat on the other side of the piano, facing Jade.</p><p>"Get lost, Vega. This doesn't concern you."</p><p>Tori rolled her eyes and looked at Andre, giving him an encouraging smile and a thumbs up when Jade's back was turned. He looked at her like a deer-in-headlights as she slowly made her way out of the music room. She mouthed "you can do it" and left the room, walking down the hall toward the main hall.</p><p>Tori found herself lost in thought while she walked toward the main hall.</p><p>Judging by Andre's smitten expression when Jade was playing the piano, Tori figured he must've liked the softer side he saw to her. And that gave Tori an idea of how she was going to help Andre move on from his crush and, possibly, help her move on as well.</p><p>If Tori remembered the moment she acknowledged her unbiased attraction to both sides of Jade, she chose not to acknowledge it. That was a can of worms she was not ready to open.</p><p>And if she felt the heat of Jade's gaze following her as she left the music room, well, she chose not to acknowledge that either.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you're reading this story, I hope you've enjoyed so far!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tori had a plan; one that included a black wig, all black clothing and a nasty attitude. The plan was fool-proof and Tori was proud of herself for having the intelligence to devise it. Andre would thank her for helping him see the error of his ways, and his crush on Jade would cease to exist.</p><p>Or so she thought.</p><p>What Tori hadn't planned on was Andre loving the bad attitude so much he nearly laid a smooch on her. Tori's earlier assumption about Andre only liking the softer side of Jade proved to be false. Maybe that had just been part of her wishful thinking. She didn't want to believe that Andre's feelings for Jade were anything more than a fleeting crush. He'd had many drive by crushes over the years, and Tori had hoped this crush would be no different.</p><p>She was wrong.</p><p>Andre had written an entire love song about Jade. It was an amazing song, as expected of Andre, the music genius, but the amount of emotion he poured into his lyrics are what gave Tori pause. He was <em>really </em>into her, like, way more than she'd initially thought. It was a startling realization.</p><p>Never, in a million years, did Tori think she and her best friend would fall for the same girl. It was bad enough that she and Cat had once had the same guy in common, but this was different. Tori was in love with Jade, and now there were two other guys in the equation. Andre and Beck were two of her best friends and, while Beck had moved on and was dating a new girl, Tori still felt guilty for feeling that way about her friend's ex-girlfriend. And now Andre, who was brave enough to voice his feelings and write a song for her, had only added several more buckets of guilty liquid into her guilt-filled ocean. Tori was practically drowning in guilt and there was no one to throw her an inflatable donut to keep her afloat.</p><p>To ease her guilt, Tori helped Andre revise his song and prepared to perform it with him at the Asphalt cafe the next night. He would get the opportunity to express his feelings through song, and Jade would either figure it out then and there and confront Andre (or Tori) about it, or she would pretend to remain clueless for the sake of making things less awkward. Tori was hoping for the latter. But she knew there was a third option.</p><p>What if Jade had felt the same about Andre?</p><p>"Tori, are you okay? You look a little pale," came Andre's concerned voice, breaking her out of her reverie. "Where'd you go just now?"</p><p>"No place you want to visit. Trust me," she said, trying to pass it off as a joke. Luckily, Andre took it as one and chuckled.</p><p>What was wrong with her? Andre was her best friend, and there was no way she had a chance with Jade anyway. Andre probably had a better chance of dating Jade than she did. If it turned out that Jade liked him back, shouldn't she support him?</p><p>She knew she was getting ahead of herself, but the 'what ifs' were making her spiral down a train of thought she hadn't meant to go down. Now she felt trapped in her own mind.</p><p>"I think we're good for tonight. The song is finished and we sound great together. Let's do one more rehearsal tomorrow before the performance," Andre told her.</p><p>"Yeah, sounds good," Tori replied absently.</p><p>"Thanks again for helping me out with this, Tori. I really appreciate it," Andre expressed with gratitude. "You're a great friend."</p><p>"Awwww," Tori groaned, trying to disguise it as a touched sentiment. He just knew how to triple her guilt, didn't he?</p><p>Andre smiled at her and packed up his things, rising from his seat at the piano. Tori walked him to the front door and opened the door to let him out. They stood in the doorway for a few moments, neither really saying anything, but looking at each other all the same. Andre's expression was as open and honest as ever, and Tori realized that words were not needed. She knew what he wanted to say.</p><p>"Well, later," Andre rushed out, making his way out of the house and toward his car.</p><p>Tori watched him get in his car and drive away, still mindlessly staring at the empty spot where his car had been as she pondered over what his expression had indicated.</p><p>He was going to confess to Jade after their performance.</p><hr/><p>The next day, Tori had been unable to focus on anything that wasn't related to Andre and Jade, the song they were going to perform for a clueless Jade and the love confession Andre was planning to give Jade after the performance. It was all Tori could think about and it was driving her crazy. Although, maybe not as crazy as it was driving Andre, who had been buzzing with nervous energy all day. Just the sight of Jade had him running in the opposite direction. Andre had already dodged Jade six times that day and Jade was starting to get suspicious.</p><p>It was during independent study that Jade had decided to come to Tori for answers.</p><p>"Why is Andre avoiding me?" Jade asked in a demanding voice, dropping heavily into the seat next to Tori, causing her to nearly drop her open laptop.</p><p>Tori usually spent her independent study periods in the Black Box Theater since this was the one class period she knew it'd be empty. She hardly ever got any work done at home since her friends took it upon themselves to drop in at all hours of the day, so this was where she often hid to do her assignments in advance. The only person that knew where she'd be during this period was Andre, and Tori doubted he'd allowed Jade get close enough to speak to him.</p><p>Closing her laptop and resting it on the empty chair beside her, Tori turned to Jade.</p><p>"How'd you know I was here?"</p><p>Jade rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, sliding further down in the seat as she did so.</p><p>"Please, as if you being here is a well-kept secret," she scoffed. "I followed you here as soon as the bell rang."</p><p>"I've been in here for ten minutes! What, did you just stare at me all that time?"</p><p>Jade smirked and pulled out her phone, pulling up what looked to be a video of Tori. Holding her phone out for Tori to see, she clicked play. To Tori's horror, the video showed Tori digging out a wedgie and letting out a sigh of relief. Tori's cheeks burned with embarrassment and she averted her gaze from the amused girl beside her.</p><p>"I didn't want to interrupt. You looked <em>really </em>into it," Jade said tauntingly.</p><p>"You are pure evil."</p><p>"Tell me why Andre is suddenly being a weirdo and I'll delete the video."</p><p>Tori sighed and quickly thought of an excuse. "He finally managed to finish the song he was working on, but he didn't keep the lyrics you'd come up with together. He wasn't sure how to tell you."</p><p>Tori deserved an award for her quick thinking. To Tori's relief, Jade seemed to buy her explanation.</p><p>Jade furrowed her brow in confusion. "Then why doesn't he just tell me that? It's his song, not mine. He can do what he wants with it."</p><p>Tori shrugged, as if she were just as clueless as Jade and nonchalantly replied, "It could be because you're a terrifying individual."</p><p>Jade looked at Tori, then, and studied her.</p><p>"If only I terrified you," she mused.</p><p>It was said so quietly and with so much wonder that Tori knew Jade hadn't meant for her to hear. But, she did, and she desperately wanted to question it. Before she could, however, Jade stood up and walked toward the exit, pausing briefly at the door.</p><p>"Tell Andre to stop being such a wuss. It's pathetic."</p><p>And, with that, she exited the theater, leaving Tori in silence.</p><p>Tori released a heavy sigh, pulled her phone out of her back jeans pocket and typed out a text to Andre to tell him of what had just transpired, and to get his crap together. Once the text was sent, she grabbed her laptop from the seat beside her, opened it, and went back to doing her homework, ignoring the persistent voice in her head telling her to analyze Jade's words.</p><p>"<em>If only I terrified you."</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Andre sang his song and Jade was none the wiser about his feelings for her.</p><p>...or so Andre had thought.</p><p>After Jade had hugged him and congratulated him on an amazing song and performance, Andre gave up on his crush and moved on to the next girl that showed interest. Jade seemed to be clueless about his feelings and Andre took that as a sign that things between them weren't meant to be.</p><p>What he didn't see, however, was the realization dawning on Jade mid-performance. Tori could practically see the lightbulb clicking on in Jade's head, shining in all its blindingly bright glory. She'd caught Jade's eye and saw understanding there, as if Andre's odd behavior suddenly made sense. But that realization was quickly replaced by a look of pity and what oddly resembled empathy- as if Jade could personally relate to his situation. As if she were experiencing it in that very moment. Tori couldn't help but glance at Beck and his new girlfriend who were seated a few feet away to Jade's left, wrapped in each other's arms with big, goofy grins on their faces. Jade paid them no mind, but Tori couldn't help but wonder if Jade was actually over Beck. Jade was usually transparent where her feelings for Beck were concerned, but she was an actress and a damn good one, at that. Who even knew how she really felt, because Tori sure didn't.</p><p>Tori pondered on thoughts of Jade for the rest of the night, dreaming of a love square between Jade, Beck, Andre and herself. Unlike real Tori, dream Tori actually stood a chance. Dream Tori was a lot less lost and a lot more confident that her feelings could be reciprocated.</p><p>Too bad her dreams didn't mirror reality.</p><hr/><p>The next morning, Tori sat in the back corner of the library, eyes glued to her phone. She was scrolling through The Slap and reading Trina's obnoxious posts. Leave it to her sister to live tweet her entire encounter with the new guy, Josh, who Trina was convinced was her future husband. The thread spanned over fifty posts and Tori found herself groaning aloud at the absurdity of it all.</p><p>As Tori continued her mindless scrolling, heavy footsteps could be heard coming her way, quickly followed by a dark shadow casting over her table a few moments later.</p><p>"Why didn't you tell me Andre was a lovesick loser?" she heard a disgruntled voice ask above her.</p><p>Tori - who had been absorbed in reading Trina's last post from her thread, which read <em>'and then I followed him into the boy's restroom and he told me to leave. He so wants me.' - </em>startled and looked up from her phone to stare at the girl standing on the other side of the table, bag strap gripped in her hand and a pierced eyebrow raised in question.</p><p>"I hope you know you just interrupted some very stimulating reading."</p><p>"What, reading erotica in the school library, Vega?"</p><p>"No, just Trina's Slap Feed."</p><p>"Your sister's pathetic."</p><p>Tori groaned out a pained, "I know."</p><p>"So, Andre?" Jade questioned again. "What's the deal there?"</p><p>"Isn't that something only friends would discuss?"</p><p>"Vega…" Jade warned.</p><p>Tori placed the phone in her grasp on the table, leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.</p><p>"It wasn't my place to say anything," Tori lamented. "So, what are you going to do with this information? Tease him? Expose him?"</p><p>Jade scoffed and dropped heavily into the seat across from Tori, dropping her bag on the floor.</p><p>"Do you honestly think I'd do that?"</p><p>Tori looked at her incredulously. "YES! You've done it to me."</p><p>Jade leaned back in the chair, mirroring Tori's position. "That was different," she argued.</p><p>"How?"</p><p>"Because it's you," Jade replied in a monotonous tone. "And I did it for your own good. You needed to confront your unresolved feelings for Danny before you hurt yourself and Cat in the process. But," Jade paused and released a wry chuckle, "look at how that turned out."</p><p>"Why did you even care?"</p><p>"I didn't and I still don't."</p><p>"You just said that you didn't want me to get hurt," Tori pointed out, ignoring the rapid pounding in her chest.</p><p>Jade stared blankly at Tori, clearly trying to recall her previous words. Her eyes narrowed at the realization of what she'd just said. "You were pathetic, petty and completely unfair to Cat. You're annoying, Vega, but petty and bitchy wasn't a good look on you. Someone had to call you out on your crap."</p><p>Tori, ignoring the fluttering in her gut and the uncomfortable pounding in her chest, countered, "All you did was try to make me look pathetic."</p><p>"Trust me, you did that all by yourself. I was just making you aware of it."</p><p>Tori scoffed, slouched in her chair and changed the topic. "Didn't you come here to talk about Andre?"</p><p>Jade shrugged her shoulders. "You're the one who decided to make the conversation about yourself. I was just humoring you."</p><p>"Jade," Tori whined.</p><p>Had she blinked, she would have missed the slight uplift of Jade's lips. But she hadn't blinked and she had seen it, but it was gone just as soon as it came.</p><p>"If he doesn't say anything, then neither will I," Jade stated simply.</p><p>"But, hypothetically, what if he does?"</p><p>Tori knew there was very little chance that he would at this point, but she doubted Andre was truly over Jade. She knew Andre, she knew how much he liked Jade; it wasn't just one of his usual shallow crushes, it was more than that. He liked her. As much as Tori didn't want another person to worry about where her feelings for Jade was concerned, she had to accept that this was their situation and it sucked.</p><p>"Andre's a cool dude, but he's not my type."</p><p>Tori nearly exhaled in relief, but composed herself to appear unaffected.</p><p>"Oh? What is your type exactly?" Tori boldly asked.</p><p>"Why? Planning to try and set me up again?"</p><p>Tori vaguely remembered her plan to set Jade up with a new guy after her breakup with Beck. She was dying on the inside the entire time she searched for potential suitors, but powered through it for the sake of Jade and for the sake of the students experiencing her unmitigated wrath. Obviously, no one was the right match for Jade and Tori took small comfort in that fact, ignoring the fact that she most likely fell into the category of 'no one'.</p><p>"I'd rather not die by your hands, thank you."</p><p>Jade...<em>laughed</em>. Tori blinked. It was so open and unguarded that it took Tori by surprise. Before she could make a comment that could ruin the surprisingly friendly atmosphere, Jade stood up, picked up her bag and adjusted the bag strap on her shoulder.</p><p>Just when Tori thought Jade would walk away without another word, Jade remained standing, staring down at the table with narrowed eyes. After a few silent seconds, Jade's gaze rose from the table and locked with Tori's . Her expression was unreadable. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before shutting it firmly and turning on her heels.</p><p>And then she was gone, disappearing through rows of tall bookcases. Tori's phone suddenly buzzed on the table a moment later, startling her out of her staring contest with the bookcases Jade had just disappeared between. She picked up her phone and unlocked it, clicking on the new text message she'd received.</p><p><em><strong>Jade</strong></em>:<em> Stare any harder, Vega, and I'd think Andre wasn't the only one interested in me.</em></p><p>Tori's eyes widened and she looked up from her phone, looking in the direction of the bookcases Jade had gone through moments prior. She noticed blue eyes watching her from between the shelves, noting the curious quirk of a thin, black eyebrow.</p><p>Tori looked back at her phone and lamely replied, <em>'you wish'</em>.</p><p>Jade's breathy chuckle could be heard through the stacks, but it was soon followed by her retreating footsteps. And then she was actually gone, leaving Tori alone with her wildly beating heart and racing thoughts. If only Jade knew just how right she was.</p><p>She'd have a field day.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"<em>Stare any harder, Vega, and I'd think Andre wasn't the only one interested in me."</em></p><p>Jade's text message had remained at the forefront of Tori's mind for the rest of the day. Tori found herself reading over the words several times, confirming and re-confirming that the sender of the message was, in fact, Jade. She'd analyzed those fifteen words, searching for a hidden meaning she had yet to discover.</p><p>No matter how many times she had read the words, it left Tori feeling at a loss.</p><p>If Tori hadn't known better, she'd think Jade was flirting with her.</p><p>Jade had been so open with her during their five-minute encounter in the library that morning that it had Tori's mind in tatters. Sure, Jade was still her usual sarcastic self and sure, she still poked fun at Tori every chance she got, but there was no malice behind it. It wasn't their usual banter consisting of Jade's offensive remarks and Tori's defensive retorts; this banter was playful, <em>comfortable, </em>even. Tori and Jade hadn't had many one-on-one encounters over the last two years they'd known each other and, when they did, it was usually because Jade wanted something from her. While Jade may have come to Tori for answers about Andre, they'd barely mentioned the boy at all, as if Andre was just an excuse for Jade to talk to her.</p><p>And it was that minor detail that perplexed Tori the most.</p><p>"Hey, Tori!" came a familiar cheerful greeting, snapping Tori out of her reverie.</p><p>Tori, who stood motionless in front of her unopened locker, suddenly noticed the red-haired girl looking up at her.</p><p>"Are you okay? You look a little odd," Cat observed aloud, looking at Tori with wide, curious eyes.</p><p>Tori sighed and raised a hand to the handle on her locker and pulled it open, realizing she must have spun the combination in before spacing out.</p><p>"I'm fine, I just didn't sleep well last night," Tori lied.</p><p>If she were being completely honest, she'd admit that she slept exceptionally well. The dream she'd had about her love square with Jade, Beck and Andre had ended with Jade choosing her. Tori wasn't as lost in her dream as she was at the moment, and dream Tori wasn't nearly as pathetic.</p><p>"Did you have a nightmare?" Cat asked.</p><p>Tori smiled and shook her head because, no, it was far from a nightmare. "No, I just drank coffee on my way home last night and it kept me awake."</p><p>"One time, my brother drank thirty-six cups of coffee," Cat told her. Tori stared at her. "We had to call an ambulance. I'm pretty sure he died for a few minutes."</p><p>Tori blinked at that and turned back to her open locker, grabbing her English book and shutting the door. She turned back to Cat and from over the redhead's shoulder, she saw Jade at her locker, talking with Beck. The conversation looked heated and Tori suddenly wished she had taken Trina up on her offer to take a lip-reading class.</p><p>Cat began to speak again, quietly trailing off when she noticed where Tori's attention had gone. She followed Tori's gaze to the arguing pair.</p><p>"Jade was mean to Beck's girlfriend in class today," Cat informed her, her voice taking on a disapproving tone. "They were paired together for our short film project in screenwriting class and Julia said Jade's ideas were too scary, so Jade said some...<em>things</em>."</p><p>Tori looked away from the scene and looked back at Cat, curious.</p><p>"What kind of things?"</p><p>Cat gasped and shook her head side to side. "I can't! She said some bad words," she squeaked out, her voice coming out half whisper, half squawk.</p><p>Just then, Tori saw Andre rounding the corner, glancing curiously at Jade and Beck whose heated whispers continued raising in volume. Andre quickly passed them and made his way over to Tori and Cat.</p><p>"What's going on over there?" he asked, turning his head to glance at the scene again.</p><p>"Apparently Jade was mean to Julia in class and Beck is having a talk with her about it."</p><p>Andre chuckled and shook his head in amusement. Tori studied her friend's face, looking for any sign of his previous infatuation. His feelings were still there, but the anxiety and discomfort that was there whenever Jade was in his vicinity was gone. Even as Jade and Beck ended their argument and walked over to them, Andre didn't flinch or look on the verge of sprinting away.</p><p>"Hey, guys," Beck greeted, voice sounding much calmer than Tori expected.</p><p>"Heeeeyyyy," the trio guiltily said in unison.</p><p>"Enjoy the show?" Jade interrogated.</p><p>"What? There was a show?" Tori replied nervously, her guilty tone giving her away.</p><p>Jade scoffed. "You're a crap liar, Vega."</p><p>"Well!" Tori responded, clearly offended.</p><p>Jade bit back a smile and quickly schooled her features into one of indifference. Much like what occurred during their morning encounter, it was a blink and miss type of moment, but Tori saw it and, by the looks of it, so did Cat, who was curiously looking between them.</p><p>"Jade and Julia had a misunderstanding and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. We're all good now."</p><p>"We are far from good, Beckett. Tell your tasteless snob of a girlfriend to either study the meaning of creativity or get some talent," Jade said.</p><p>"Jade!" Tori scolded, just as Andre snorted and Beck fumed.</p><p>"She insulted <em>The Scissoring</em> and then had the nerve to call my suggestions demented and nightmare-inducing," she explained, as if those reasons justified her disdain or were somehow false. She turned to Beck and said, "Your girlfriend is an uncultured idiot."</p><p>"Hey!" Beck yelled.</p><p>Jade flipped him off and silently walked away from the group. Beck called after her and followed her down the hall, leaving the amused trio in their wake.</p><p>"Well, that was fun," Andre joked. A quiet message alert dinged and Andre dug his phone out of his jeans pocket, reading the message on his screen. "I have to meet Robbie and Sinjin to prepare for play rehearsal. Later."</p><p>"Later," Tori and Cat bid in unison.</p><p>Once left alone, Tori looked to Cat, who had turned weirdly quiet, and noticed the redhead silently studying her as if she'd figured something out.</p><p>"What?" Tori asked, clearly unnerved by the serious expression on the normally bright girl's face.</p><p>"Tori…" Cat started, her tone serious. "Are you and Jade best friends now?"</p><p>Tori was taken aback. "What makes you think that?"</p><p>"I don't know, you two just seem...friendly."</p><p>"We're friends. Sort of. It's complicated," Tori admitted clumsily.</p><p>Cat smiled brightly. "Yay! 'Kay bye, Tori!"</p><p>Tori didn't question the abrupt goodbye and just waved at the redhead as she bounced away and disappeared around the corner.</p><p>Soon, the bell sounded and Tori made her way to class, putting the weirdness of this day to the back of her mind.</p><hr/><p>It was lunchtime and Tori found herself sitting alone. Andre, Robbie and Cat were in the Blackbox Theater setting up for Sikowitz's new play. Beck and his girlfriend went off campus for lunch at her dad's restaurant, which left Tori by her lonesome, eating a salad made of withered lettuce, soggy chicken tenders and no one to distract her from it.</p><p>"Vega."</p><p>Or so she had thought.</p><p>Jade sat next to Tori, placing a small food container on the table. Wordlessly, she opened the container and took out the burrito inside, taking a big bite out of it while eyeing Tori's pathetic lunch.</p><p>"That looks disgusting."</p><p>"I didn't ask."</p><p>"You didn't have to."</p><p>"Well!"</p><p>Jade took another bite of her burrito, watching as Tori indignantly stabbed at her limp salad and took a small mouthful of dry, withered lettuce. Tori did her best to keep the disgust off her face, but failed. She imagined this was what watered down acid tasted like. Jade snorted and took another bite of her burrito, moaning obnoxiously as she chewed.</p><p>Tori rolled her eyes and ignored the effect the sound had on her, stubbornly shoveling another mouthful of acidic salad into her mouth.</p><p>"So," Tori started, "how are things with you and Beck?"</p><p>Jade put the remainder of her burrito into its container and looked at Tori in confusion.</p><p>"I don't know where you've been these last few months, Vega, but there is no 'me and Beck'."</p><p>"I know you two aren't together, but..." where Tori got the confidence to bring up the topic, she didn't know, but here she was pushing anyway. "Your argument with Julia today-"</p><p>"Had nothing to do with Beck. She's just a terrible partner to have. She likes romcoms and coming-of-age stories, while I prefer horror and gore and now we have to work together on a script worth thirty percent of our final grade," Jade explained. "Beck and I are friends and I have nothing against Julia as a person or Julia as his girlfriend, my only issue is her terrible taste in movies."</p><p>"And that's it?"</p><p>"I don't have to explain myself to you, Vega, but, yes, that's it."</p><p>Tori nodded at that and felt relief blossom in her chest. Jade was over Beck and she meant it. While that didn't mean Tori had a chance with her, it was great to know both Beck and Andre were nonissues when it came to Jade's love and affection.</p><p>Giving up on eating her salad, Tori took a swig of water to get rid of the taste. Mid gulp, Jade spoke up.</p><p>"Why so interested in my love life all of a sudden?" Jade asked. "Trying to shoot your shot?"</p><p>Tori choked and slammed her water bottle onto the tabletop, coughing to clear her airway of water.</p><p>"What, your secret thing for me got your tongue?" Jade teased.</p><p>Tori felt her face heat up under the girl's mirthful gaze. She tried to put on an indignant expression, but just looked constipated. Jade smirked.</p><p>"I'm only joking, <em>Tori</em>, but judging by your reaction, maybe I'm onto something."</p><p>Before Tori could respond, Jade rose from the table, taking her burrito with her and left Tori to ponder over what just happened and if it was possible for a human heart to combust from beating too hard.</p>
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